Bilateral ties between India and Canada took centre stage when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in New Delhi on Wednesday to explore avenues for deepening the relationship between the two countries. Trade, technology, security, energy, education, and people-to-people ties all featured in the talks, with both sides describing the exchange as covering matters of shared bilateral interest.
Modi conveyed through a post on X that a partnership oriented toward the future remained a priority for India, and that the partnership's forward movement draws on leadership direction and ongoing coordination across both government and industry. He also noted that both nations had agreed to advance their Strategic Partnership by pursuing tangible results across areas such as trade, energy, technology, security, and people-to-people connections, and that their cooperation was contributing to global stability and prosperity.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held separate talks in New Delhi on Wednesday with Anand, during which the two sides took stock of where bilateral relations currently stand. The discussions covered the state of bilateral relations spanning trade, investment, education, energy, defence, and people-to-people exchanges, as well as a range of pressing matters on the regional and international agenda. The two sides also held a conversation covering active developments across the region, along with efforts to deepen the Strategic Partnership linking India and Canada, with the Indian official expressing pleasure at receiving Canada's Foreign Minister Anand in New Delhi.
Anand's arrival in India on Tuesday drew a formal reception, with a statement from the host side extending a cordial greeting to her for the visit. India's Ministry of External Affairs noted on X that Anand's third trip to India since June 2025 pointed to ongoing contact between the two countries at a senior level, and that the visit was expected to give both sides a chance to build on recent developments in the bilateral relationship.
Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke by telephone on Tuesday evening, with both expressing a shared intent to build on the improving state of bilateral relations and work toward concrete outcomes in areas each side has identified as priorities. Modi described the exchange as warm and productive.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also held talks with Canada's International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, centred on moving the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations forward. Goyal posted on X that the talks had covered ways to push forward negotiations on CEPA, with both sides aiming for an outcome that broadens market access and opens up fresh avenues for trade and investment on terms that work for each country.
Sidhu is heading a delegation of roughly 300 business representatives — described as the largest such group from Canada to travel to India in thirty years — with participants scheduled to explore joint-venture opportunities across a range of industries while CEPA talks between the two countries continue to advance. Negotiations between the two countries are under way, with both sides pursuing a deal that would open fresh pathways for trade and employment.
